Heel-building machine



March Z4. 1925;y 1,530,532

E. E. wlNKLEY HEEL BUILDI'NG'MACHINE origina1-Fi1ed Sept- 5, 1918 15 sheets-Sheet l March 24, 1925. 1,530,532

E. E. WINKLEY HEEL .BUILDING MACHINE 5, 1'918 l5 Sh ts-Sheet 2 #f /0 Original Filed 970 mwen-5071,

E. E. WINKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE March .24, 1925. 1,530,532

Original Filed Sept. 5, 1918 l5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inveii Z017 m v?, W'

March 24.1925.

` E. E.-W|NKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE Original Filed sept. 5,' ,191e

15 Sheets-#Sheet 4 .[n/venor;

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E. E. wrNKpEY Ham. BULmNG MAbiuNE original Filed Sept. 5, 1918 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 24. 1925. l 1,530,532

` E. E. WINKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE Original Filed Sep- 5, 1918 15 sheets-sheet e March 24, 1925.

E. E wlNKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE original Filed Sept. 5, 1918 15 Sheets-Sheet 7 March 24, 1925. 1,530,532

E. E. WLNKLEY v HEEL BUILDING MACHINE Original Filed SGP- 5. 1918 l5 Sheets-Sheet 8 VJ 775 O/ffgJ/J.

March 24, 1925. 1,530,532

. E. E. WINKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE L15, 1918 15 Sheets-Sheet 9 original Filed March 24, 1925. 1,530,532

E. E. wlNKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE Original Filed Sept- 5. 1918 15 Sheets-Sheet l0 15g. l. V .553

J a' 4@ f7 March 24,1925.

E. E. WINKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE 918- 5 Sheets-Sheet 11 Original Fileld Sept. 5

March 24, 1925 1,530,532 4E. E. wlNKLl-:Y Y

HEEL BUILDING MACHINE Original Filed Sept 5. 1918l 15 Sheets-Sheet 12 /0 -wf/Z 74 365 4Z 450 Je 1 Mil 1"' "i I 4i/3TH 4 #zal l '336 /fg '24 O 1 Mi/l;-

31655: l l l y March 24, 1925. 1,530,532,

E. E. WINKLEY am. BUILDING MACHINE Srignal Filed Sept- 5. 1918 15 `Shee'cs--Shee'c l5 y AW Vlies W I o/MMMMM E. wlNKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE March 24. 1925.

15 Sheets-Shet 14 Original Filed Sept. 5, 1918 "`r-` March 24, 1925. 1,530,532

E. E. WINKLEY HEEL BUILDING MACHINE original Filed Sept' 5 1913 15 Sheets-Shee-t 15 e??? .ad

Patented Mar. 24, 1925.

UNITED STATES insana PATENT OFFICE.

ERASTU'S E. WINKLEY, OF LYNN, MSSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MA- CHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATTERSON, NEVI' JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW' JERSEY.

HEEL-BULDING IiTACI-IINE.

Application filed September 5, 1918, Serial No, 252,769. Renewed November 16, 1922.

To f/ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EnAsTUs E. VVINKLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heel-Building Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

.This invention relates to an automatic` heel-building machin-e, and it has special reference to a machine of this general class that is particularly adapted to build both decked leather heels and sections of heels that are composed of thin lifts and skivings of varying thicknesses and qualities.

lt is common practice in the art to manufacture loiv heels that comprise leather lifts throughout, and also heels comprising a section of leatherboard lifts and a section of leather lifts. Such leather heels and heelsections are frequently made up of a plurality of thin liftsand skivings of different thicknesses and qualities. In order to econoinize material and accommodate the pitch of the heel, it is` customary to form such a heelin 'decks or levers of graded sizes, and it is sometimes desirable to form even the leather sections themselves in decks.

The leather sections may be either built up preliniinarily into the form of a unitary section that nr y be suitably secured to the leatheieboard section of the heel, or, the leather section may he built into the heel at the same time and in the same manner that the leatherboard lifts are assembled.

ln the manufacture of either all leather heels or leather sections of heels of this type, Whether the sections are built into independent units before being attached to the leatherboard section or are assembled With leather-board lifts into a complete heel, the character or quality of the lifts is usually specified. For instance., the specification may call for a heel having T/Sths of leather, Z/Sths being of grain leather', Q/Sths of flexibles, and the remainder of skivings. hiloreover, different sizes of leather lifts may be specified in order to produce a decked heel.

One ofthe objects ofthe present invenl tion is to provide an automatic heel buildlng machine for assembling` successively 1n superposed relation, a sufficient number of lifts of varying or unknown thicknesses to form a heel or heel section of predetermined height.

Accordingly, a feature of the invention resides in the combination With means for holding` a supply of lifts of varying or uny known thicknesses, of automatic mechanism operating upon a suiiicient number of lifts, one at a time, to form a heel of definite height, for successively removing the lifts from the supply `and depositing them one upon the'other to build heel of predetermined height. In order to definitely determine When a sufficient number of lifts have been assembled, it is convenient to employ a measuring mechanism which preferably functions after the deposit of each lift and thereby ,determines the progressive heights of the heel during its assembly. The

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide an automatic machine which shall be adapted to build a heel or Vheel-section of definite characteristics and dimensions, by successively transferring thin lifts of a certain quality or size and of varying thicknesses from one magazine and assembling them in a pile in superposed relation to apredetermined height of deck, then successively superposing` upon the first deck, lifts of a different quality orV size from another magazine until a prescribed height is attained, and then, if desired, similarly and progressively assembling another deckl or other decks to build a completed heel lil or lieel-section of the desired total height after which the completed product may be ejected and the cycle of operation repeated to build another like heel or Iheel-sectioii.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the above mentioned objects are accomplished by 'n'ieans' of a machine Which'einbodie's av plurality rvof magazines for containing and segregating lifts J of different qualities or sizes, from which lifts are removed oneat a time and assembled in a pile 'in superpose'd relation by means of apicker that preferably is adapted to rotate 'continuously"through successive complete revolutions. lin automatic measuring device'is preliminarily set in accordance 'with the dimensions and ycharacterstics of the heel"orheel-section to bey built: and functions 'during' the operation of the f machine to progressively measure the height 'T' following description of the illustratedl'einbodiment of the`invention. The invention,

in its broader aspects,i`s not conned to the specific structural: detailsfandV mode of operation set' forth, vand the advantages and benefits thereof may be attained `by'm'achines differingv widely in certain respects' fromthat'shown and described; therefore,-

only such limitations shoiiild be imposedA as are indicated in the appended 'claimsf Y Throughout the specification and claims, the terms heel and"heel-'pile' afreyused generically to include heel-sections, and the terms lifts and heel-lifts aie employed in an inclusive sense, as delining'any blank s or layer of material capable of being handled by instruiiientalities of the character described, more particularly such blanks as are useful in the forn'iationof heels or heel-piles, from which heels ai'eultin'iately produced and irrespective of the particular dimensions and shape of the blank or of the nature of the material of which. it is composed. l l i The preferred embodiment of the iiivendrawings, as building an all-leather :decked heel. although it will be understood that the machine may be employed ,for building l leather heel-sections, or4 for other analogous purposes.

ln' the drawings Figure 1l is a. view, iii side elevation, Vof a machine constructed in ac.- coidance with the invention, the nearest side frame being` removedfor the sake of clearncss'; Fig. a view, partially in section V6 is aisectional plan View, on an enlarged scale, of the machine, with certainparts removed to show the construction of the multi-p-ath cam for determining the operation of the picker, the :picker being shown in its depositing position; ig. 7 is a View, Similar to Fig. 6, of aportion of the4 machine,

`illustrating particularly the picker inl position over the' first magazine'k and theJ paste applying device in the act of applyingpaste to -one of the deposited lifts; Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional plan view showing the construction of themechanisms for, releasing the magazine clamps; Fig. 9 is a View V similar toil* igs. 6 and 7, showing particularlyjthe picker in the act of actuating the ejecting device; Fig. 1()l is a detailedk enlarged plan view of the toothed cam segment of the measuring device, the multipath cani being shown in dotted lines with the gates or switches in position for causing the picker to act uponthe lifts in thev second magazine; Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail view, partially in section, of one of the gates and adjustable' pins constituting a part of' the multi-path 'cam for selectively determining the magazine from which lifts are to be, reinove`d; `Fig. 12 'is an enlarged plan view, partiallyvin section, of the Vmachine, with certain parts removed toA show particularly the construction ofthe measuring device and the vautomatic stopsl for the paste applying device; Fig. 13 lis an enlarged view, partially in section and partially in elevation, of a portion-of the inachine, the section, being taken along the line 13-13 of. Fig. (3, and showing particulai-ly the operating mechanism. of the measuring device; Fig. lilis an enlarged front elevation of a portion of the machine, showing thejpic'ker in its depositing position; F ig., 15 is an enlarged view, partially in sectionand partiallyi'n side elevation, ofthe upper portionof `the machine,y the section p l y jbeing taken on theline 15-15 of Fig. G tion is illustrated in Vthe accompanying and showing particularly the measuring dcvice and theconstruction andv operating mechanism; ofthe picker andv the maga- Zines;Fig.plG is a perspective view, on an enlargedscale, of one of the, magazines and its operating mechanism; Fig. 17 isan eu- ,larged view ofthe cam and associated operating mechanismfor effecting the actuationoffthe magazine clamps; Fig. 18 is an enlarged view, in elevation, of the cani and associated mechanism for actuating the reciprocating head and oscillating the toothed cam segment of the measuring device; Fig. if) is an enlarged view, partially in section and partially in elevation, of the cam and associated mechanism for actuating the measuring device; F ig. 2() is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the picker and reciprocating head, by means of which the picker is depressed to piek up and deposit a lift; Fig. 2l is an enlarged view, partially in section, of the paste applying device and the mechanism for immersing it in the paste-pot; Fig. 22 is an enlarged view of the cam and associated mechanism for ac.- tuating the stripper or measuring fingers; Fig. 23 is a sectional plan view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the picker; Fig, 24 is an enlarged plan view of an attachment which may conveniently be added to the machine and which embodies a linger for clamping or holding down the heelpile while the stripper fingers are withdrawn, certain parts of the machine being illustrated in dotted lines; Fig. 25 is a view, in front elevation, of the attachment shown in Fig. 24; Fig. 26 is a view in side elevation of the attachment shown in Figs. 24 and 25; and Fig. 27 is an enlarged detailed view of the cam device for determining` the operation of the clamping or positioning finger.

Referring to the drawings, the machine shown comprises, in general, a fra-me for supporting the various component elements embodied in the machine; a plurality of magazines 32 for containing` stacks of thin lifts or slrivings L of varying thicknesses and qualities and of graded sizes; a picker 34 adapted to periodically rotate through complete revolutions and to successively transfer a plurality of lifts from the several magazines in turn and deposit them in superposcd relation in the form of a heel-pile; a multi-path gate am 3G Vincluding a plurality of adjustable gates or switches 40, 42,

44 and 4G for prescribing the path of movement of the` Vpicker and shifting its operation from one magazine to another in accordance with predetermined conditions; a reciprocating head 48 for depressing the picker to cause it to remove lifts from the respective magazines and to discharge or deposit them in a pile at an assembling station; a measuring device including a plurality of combined measuring and stripper fingers 50, a vertically movable and horizontally oscillatory toothed cam segment 52 and a plurality of adjustable pins 54, all serving in conjunction to periodically measure the height of the heel-pile as it is progressively built, and to automatically control the actuation of the gates or switches of the gate cam 36 to prescribe the operation of the picker `in accordance therewith; a paste-applying device 56 for applying paste to the upper surface of each of the lifts after it has been deposited at the assemblingstation; a plurality of stops 58 and G0 for respectively preventing the paste-applying device from applying paste to the support or table upon which the heels are built and to the final liftof the pile; an ejector G2 for ejecting or discharging the heel when completed, and a clamping or positioning finger 64 for engaging each of the uppermost lifts of the heel as it is built and holding the lifts in position while the stripper fingers are laterally withdrawn.

Referring particularly to Figs. l, 2 and 3, the frame 30, upon which the component parts of the machine are mounted, comprises side pedestal members GG and 68 which are rigidly connected by means of a lower cross-beam 70, a lower supporting plate 72, an upper cross-beam 78 and an upper plate or assembling table 74. The rear portion of the plate 7 2 is substantially semi-circular in form and is adapted to support the magazines 32 and said plate is provided with a forwardly projecting arm for supporting certain driving gears of the machine. The plate 74 serves as a table, on the front portion 77 of which the heels are assembled, and the respective ends thereof are provided with integral vertically projecting sleeves 76 which serve as guides or bearings for a plurality of vertical rods 78 upon the upper ends of which the reciproeating head 48 is mounted and by means of which said head is actuated.

The side pedestals 66 and 68 carry in suitable bearings a main power shaft 80, a cam shaft 82 and a crank shaft 84. The main power shaft 8O is provided with a fast pulley 86 and a loose pulley 88 with which a belt 9() driven from anysuitable source of energy is adapted to cooperate. The belt 90 may be shifted from one pulley to the other at the will of the operator by means of a belt-shifter 92 of any suitable type that is provided with a handle 94.

The power shaft 8O is provided with a pinion 96 that meshes with a gear 98 that is mounted upon the cam shaft 82, through the agency of which the cam shaft is continuously rotated when power is supplied to the machine. The cam shaft is provided with a plurality of cams 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 and 110, by means of which the various component mechanisms of the machine are actuated in propel' time cooperation, as will hereinafter be fully set forth. The various Voperating levers and bell cranks that cooprcrate with the several cams of the machine for actuating the component mechanisms thereof are mounted A upon the crank shaft 84. Y

The assembling table 74 and the plate 7 2 are provided with suitable bearings for a central vertical shaft 11.2, which is rotated lili) lll) continuouslyv andv effects the actuation of the picker. provided with a gear 114 (Figs. 1 and 12) that is connected by means of an idler "gear 116 to a gear 118 which is associated with a bevel gear 120, all et' which-V are suitably journaled in the projecting 'arm 75 of the plate 7 4. The bevel gear l120meshes with a cooperating bevel gear 122 that is iixed to the continuously driven camy shaft'82.

Having ldescribed the lgeneral construction of the supporting :frame oii ythemachine, together with the manner of mounting certain of the most important shafts thereof, con-- sideration willy be given tothe various de-L centric about'the central shaft' 112. In order to build a heel to the specilications hereinbefore assumed, the iirst magazine contains thin lifts of grain leather, the second magazine holds a staclro'l flexibles of aV larger size-1, and the' third a stack o'tskivingsof a still larger size.y j

Each magazine comprisesa V-shaped upright member 126, which projects'upwardly to the :tullheight of theimagazine and which serves to positionl the rear or curved portions ot the lifts contained therein. The lower end of the V-shap'ed member 1261s provided with a laterally extending.` baseV 128 having a plurality' of elongated slots 130, through whichsuitable 'clamping devices 182 project for-adjustably clamping* the V-shaped member 1n position 'uponthe" The base member 1281s 'also' plate 72. provided with a central slot or recess 134 in order to allow the tree passage of a follower rod 186. with.v the V-shaped magazine member 126 is a shorter channel shaped member 140 which is providedwith a'base 142 "that is suitably secured to the supporting plate 72.

Pivoted to the upper end 4of this shorterl magazinel member 146, by meansvoif a pin;v

143, is a movable clampingmember L144 that constitutes Van extension et the'member 140" and,together'with it, serves-to position thel brez'istedges" of thestack oflitts contained within the magazine. The upper and inner surface of the clamping member 144 is provided witha plurality of teeth 146 which are normally brought into clamping engagement with the breastv Aedges of the uppermost lil-'ts in the magazine by means or a compression spring '148 that surrounds a rod-150 which 1s :suitably positioned betweena lug 152 ot the clamping member The lower end of the shatt 112 is Acting in conjunction 144 and a lug` 154 that is secured to the magazinemember 140.

The litts'uffithin the magazines are supported upon follower plates 156 which are carriedy bythe follower rods 136 that are movable vertically through'suitable openingsin'the plate 72. The lower ends of the' follower' rods 136 o'l the respective magazines are provided with angularly shaped guides 160 (Fig. 12)` that are secured theretoV at their apexes, and the ends olE which engage and slide upon a plurality ol' stationary guide-rods 162 that are positionedl int'suitable bearings upon the plate 7 2 and a bracket 164 constituting a part of the lower cross-brace 70. In order to independently and constantly urge the stack of lifts in each magazine in an upward direction, a flexible cord 166 is attached to the lower end of each`'ollo\ver rod 136, and said cord passes over pulleys 168 suitably mounted beneaththe plate 72 and is attached to a weight 170. The constant tendency of the weight 170 to 'raise the ol lower and the stack of lifts supported thereon is normally opposed by the action of the spring-pressed magazine clamp 144, as has been already described.

Duringthe operation'ofv the machine, as the picker 34 functions to remove the uppermost lift from any of the magazines, it becomes necessary to effect the release of Vthe magazine clamp 144 of the particular magazine upon which the picker acts, and this function is accomplished' by'mea'ns of the following-apparatus, illustrated best in Figs. 6, 8, 15,16 and`17. Upon the semi- Ycircular plate l72 and adjacent theside of each magazine 32`is located an upwardly `projecting-bracketi174 (Figs. 8 and 16), to

the `upperend of which a bell-crank 17 6 is pivotally mounted Vupon a pin 178. r1`he bellcranlr'comprises a substantially vertical arm 180 and a's'ubstantially horizontal larm'v 182 that carries at its end a roll 184.

The' plier end' oflthei'vertical arm 180 is provided with apaivl 186 which is pivotally mounted upon a pin 188,'and the outer end of said pawl is provided with a shoulder v190 for the purpose o'f'engaging a projectlupper e'nd' engages" the under side of :the

lug 198while its lower end engages an adjustable nut 202 that is threaded upon The pawl 186 Vis provided with a position (Fig. 1 5) in which the engagement of the shoulder 100 with the lug 192 of the magazine clamp is prevented.

The several pawls 186, normally maintained in their elevated positions, as just described, are periodically actuated,V back and forth during the cycle of operation of the machine, by reason of the fact that the rolls 184 at the ends of the respective horizontal arms 182 of the bell-cranks cooperatively engage flanges 204 and 206 of a spool 208 (Fig. 17) that is loosely .slidable upon the central shaft 112. A periodic sliding movement of the spool 208 is effected by means of a bell-crank 210 that is rotatably mounted upon the crank-shaft 84, one arm thereof being provided with a-roll 212 that is located between the flanges 206 and 214 of the slidable spool 208, and the other arm being provided with a roll 216 that cooperatively engages a cam-path in the face of the cam 102. provided with as many depressions 218 as there are magazines, so that during each cycle of operation of the machine, when the picker is in operative position above the respective magazines, the cam 102, through the agency of the mechanisms just described, actuates the clamp-releasing pawls 186 in their elevated positions through their idle paths of movement. The several pawls 186, therefore, are respectively adapted to release the clamps of the respective magazines, but for the fact that they are maintained in elevated positions by the springs 200.

ln order to render operative the clampreleasing pawl 186 of the particular magazine with which the picker 34 is cooperating, said picker is provided with an adjustable set screw 220 (Fig. 16) which engages the upper cam surface 222 of the adjacent pawl 186 when the picker is depressed into position just above the uppermost liftin the magazine. The engagement referred to effects the depression of that particular pawl 186 until the shoulder 190 thereof is. brought into such position that it engages the lug 192 of the clamp member 144 when the pawl is projected inwardly by the operation of the cani 102, in the manner already described. Having effected the engagement just referred to, the inward stroke of the pawl actuates the clamp member 144 in opposition to the action of the spring 148 and thereby temporarily releases the lifts within the magazine, as will -be understood. The sta-ck of lifts in the magazine is thereupon raised until the uppermost lift engages the picker which occupies its lowered position in which it acts as a stop to prevent the lifts from being forced upwardly out of the magazine.

As already stated, a plurality of lifts are successively removed from the several mag- This cam 102 is4 cember 22, 1917, by the present applicant. f

Referring particularly to Figs. 6, 13, 15 and 16, the picker 34 comprises a plate 226 of the general configuration of a dinked heel-life which isprovided with oppositely disposed side notches or slots 228 to accommodate the measuring or stripper fingers 50 during the lift-depositing operation. The plate 226 is secured to the lower end of a rod 230 which is slidably mounted upon a supporting arm 232 by means of upper and lower bearings 234 and 236. A collar 238 is pinned to the rod 230 just below the upper bearing 234, and between this collar and the lower bearing 236 a coil spring 240 surrounds the rod and acts to normally maintain the rod and associated picker-plate 226 in their elevated position. In this position, the upper end of the rod 230 projects above the upper bearings 234 and. into a position in which it may be engaged by a portion of the reciprocating head 48 during its operation, whereby said picker may be depressed, for a purpose and in a manner` to be hereinafter set forth. The collar 238, as shown particularly in Fig. 23 is provided with a plane rear surface 242 (Fig. 23) forengagement with the outer surface 244 of the picker arm 232, thus preventing any rotative movements of the picker.

The picker arm 232 is provided with a sleeve 246 which loosely surrounds the cen-` tral shaft 112 and which rests upon a hub 248 of a crank-'arm 250 that is pinned to the shaft 112 above the plate or table 74. A collar 252 `is pinned to the upper end of the shaft above the picker arm 232. The free end of the crank-arm 250 is pivotally connected to a link or arm 254 by means of a bolt 256, and said arm is provided with a laterally extending member 258, having at its end a boss 260 for the purpose of actuating thc ejector' 62, as will be hereinafter described. The outer end of the link or arm 254 carries a pin 262, the upper and lower ends of which are provided with rolls '264 and 266 respectively. The upper roll projects into andy cooperativelyengages the sides of a cam slot 268 that is provided in the lower surface of an enlarged portion 270 of the main picker arm 232, as shown particularly in Figs. 6 and 15. The lower roll 266 cooperates with the gate-cam 36.

The combined cooperation of the cam-slot 268 and the gate-cam 36 upon the link or 

